Belle Gibson has failed to attend court for the third time.
Gibson and her company, Inkerman Road Nominees Pty, were given until Friday afternoon to file a defence in Consumer Affairs Victoria’s case against her, news.com.au reports.
However, a federal court spokesman said on Tuesday that she’s still yet to file a defence and it’s now unclear what will happen next.
She also failed to appear at a case management hearing on June 10; the second time she and her liquidators failed to show.
Consumer Affairs Victoria want Ms Gibson to pay a fine and publish in newspapers an apology that acknowledges her lies, according to their application for an injunction to stop her from continuing similar conduct.
Gibson rose to notoriety in March 2015 when it was revealed she had made thousands of dollars through her cookbook and app by claiming she cured her cancer by healthy living.
Read our original story on Belle Gibson: The girl who conned us all
In the May issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly disgraced blogger and founder of popular app The Whole Pantry, Belle Gibson broke her silence on her terminal brain cancer claims and her natural healing controversy. This is the whole story The Weekly sent to print…
Belle Gibson claimed to be healing her terminal cancer with wholefoods – but now it’s proven to be a cruel web of lies. Yet is Belle a hoax mastermind or simply troubled? Clair Weaver investigates.
FRESH-FACED. Earnest. Naive. When Belle Gibson speaks, she cries easily and muddles her words. She’s passionate about avoiding gluten, dairy and coffee, but doesn’t really understand how cancer works. All of which begs the question: is this young woman really capable of masterminding one of the biggest hoaxes in recent history?
This is the pretty 23-year-old who convinced millions of people she was miraculously healing her terminal brain cancer through healthy eating and natural therapies. The mother-of-one’s “inspirational” story was going global – with her wellness app, The Whole Pantry, handpicked by US giant Apple for its new smartwatch and her cookbook scheduled for release in America and the UK – when it all began to unravel.
Surely, you might assume, this is evidence of someone with street smarts? Former friends take it further, dubbing her “manipulative”, “a sociopath” and “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. The truth, however, is more complicated.
In two lengthy interviews with The Weekly this month, it seems that sometimes even Belle is unsure where the truth ends and the fantasy begins.
“I am still jumping between what I think I know and what is reality,” she tells The Weekly. “I have lived it and I’m not really there yet.”
There is no question that Belle Gibson is troubled, but this is not about cancer. Talking to medical specialists, The Weekly acknowledges Belle could be a vulnerable woman dealing with a psychological disorder such as Munchausen syndrome or factitious disorder.
Without downplaying the culpability of Belle, she is not the only one to blame. Big business quickly cashed in on her sorry story. In truth, this is the tale of a girl who tapped into the flourishing yet unregulated world of alternative wellness, where beautiful people with glossy hair sip on green smoothies, and relished the limelight. One of the most troubling aspects of Belle’s response is that she appears to have little empathy. When Belle cries, her tears appear to be mostly for herself.
Belle’s dizzying ascent began in May 2013, when she announced on social media that she had been healing herself of malignant brain cancer with wholefoods and alternative therapies for four years, despite being given just months to live. She would go on to attract more than 200,000 Instagram followers.
Next came the Seven Network, newspapers and women’s magazines hungry for her incredible story, but at a time when a rapidly changing media landscape means resources are stretched, no checks were made. And all were conned because Belle’s cancer story turned out to be untrue – something she has never fully admitted until now.
Today, a more subdued Belle, blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and dressed in a cream shirt and jeans, is being managed by a corporate advisory firm, Bespoke Approach. It usually deals with high-end business clients, but agreed to take on her case pro bono (free of charge).
The Weekly conducted two interviews with Belle at Bespoke Approach’s office in central Melbourne. Also sitting in on the interview was the firm’s Managing Director Alex Twomey, who believes
Belle is troubled and has arranged for her to see a psychologist. The Weekly has not paid Belle or Bespoke. Belle says she is agreeing to be interviewed and photographed because she wants to tell her story and move on. The Weekly asks Belle outright if she has or ever has had cancer.
“No,” she confesses. “None of it’s true.”
And how did it feel, after more than five years of claiming she was terminally ill, when she confronted this truth?
“It’s just very scary, to be honest,” she says, her voice wobbling. “Because you start to doubt the crux of things that make up who you are. You know, I’m blonde and I’m tall, and I’ve got hazel eyes and I’ve got cancer. And all of a sudden, you take away some of those high-level things and it’s really daunting.
“I don’t want forgiveness,” she says. “I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human. She’s obviously had a big life.
She’s respectfully come to the table and said what she’s needed to say, and now it’s time for her to grow and heal.”
Since the scandal, Belle has become one of the most hated women in the country. “[The backlash] is beyond horrible,” she says, voice wavering. “In the last two years, I have worked every single day living and raising up an online community of people who supported each other … I understand the confusion and suspicion, but I also know that people need to draw a line in the sand where they still treat someone with some level of respect or humility – and I have not been receiving that.”
So what does she say to accusations that she is a liar or fantasist? “I think my life has just got so many complexities around it and within it, that it’s just easier to assume [I’m lying],” she says. “If
I don’t have an answer, then I will sort of theorise it myself and come up with one. I think that’s an easy thing to often revert to if you don’t know what the answer is.”
The narrative from Belle seems to be: I am a young woman with no family to guide me – and I was preyed upon. She goes on to name two men whom she says told her she had cancer. The stories are strange, involving men treating her with machines said to be capable of both diagnosing and treating cancer. Yet all that is little consolation to those who clung to her so-called miracle.
Ann Tucker-Gwinn, a 49-year-old survivor of malignant colon cancer, says Belle’s story offered false hope to cancer patients. “People who are at the beginning of their cancer journey have one thing in common – terror,” she says. “And a person in that state of mind is vulnerable.”
Psychologists cannot comment on particular cases, but they can talk about disorders. Munchausen syndrome is a mental condition in which a person fakes illness to gain attention and sympathy.
Sufferers can be so convincing about their feigned symptoms that they may receive treatment or even surgery, says Dr Bob Montgomery, a clinical, health and forensic psychologist in Queensland.
So what causes someone to develop a disorder like this? Dr Melissa Keogh, a clinical psychologist in Melbourne, says, “Often there will be an underlying personality disorder and history of early childhood trauma. Compulsive lying tends to be associated with more severe personality disorders. With narcissistic personality disorder, people see themselves as superior. They will lie to get what they want because they think they are entitled to do so. They want to be adored by other people, so they will try to get attention whenever they can. People with borderline personality disorder strongly fear abandonment or being seen in a negative way by other people, and mistruths in this case are often desperate attempts to avoid these situations.”
That leads us to Belle’s childhood. The way she tells it, it was tough. She says she never knew her father and grew up caring for a mother afflicted by multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue, and for an autistic brother in Brisbane. She paints a picture of herself as a five-year-old burdened by unreasonable responsibilities.
“When I started school, my mum went, ‘my daughter is grown up now’,” she says. “All of a sudden, I was walking to school on my own, making school lunches and > cleaning the house every day.
It was my responsibility to do grocery shopping, do the washing, arrange medical appointments and pick up my brother. I didn’t have toys,” she controversially claims.
Whether any of this is true isn’t clear; some of her memories are unconvincing and come across as implausibly Dickensian. The Weekly was unable to track down Belle’s mother to check – Belle says they’re estranged and haven’t spoken in two years. Belle could not give us her first name or contact details.
After dropping out of high school, Belle moved to Perth at 17 and started work in a call centre at private health insurer HBF, where she would hear details of clients’ ailments. “I was hearing some horrible things about what people were going through,” she says.
Could this have helped her imagination run wild?
BELLE CLAIMS TO have suffered various health crises (see Belle Gibson Timeline below), culminating in her alleged brain cancer diagnosis in 2009. By 2011, the now mother of one said she was increasingly exhausted and drawn to alternative health, and tried everything from acupuncture to juicing.
In 2012, Belle was with her current partner, Clive Rothwell, and says she suffered a miscarriage. She becomes visibly upset when questioned about this and refuses to discuss it, other than to tearfully deny allegations it was another false health crisis. Clive, an IT worker, did not want to talk to The Weekly. Today, says Belle, he is “supportive but obviously devastated” by the scandal.
“He’s been very stern, along the lines of, ‘I just want you to acknowledge where you’ve f*ed up and not try and smooth over that’,” she says.
In 2014, Belle launched “the world’s first health, wellness and lifestyle app”, watched as her cookbook became a blockbuster and flew to the US to meet Apple and her would-be US publishers.
On her return, after seeking treatment from a new healer, known as Phil, she told her followers that cancer was now in her blood, spleen, uterus and liver, too. “I am hurting,” she said. The
Weekly has spoken to Phil and seen invoices he sent to Belle. Belle says she was even more devastated by this diagnosis than the previous one. “I sat for hours crying and crying and crying,” she says. “And I said to [a friend at the time], ‘How do you say goodbye to your own child?’”
Yet, by late last year, cracks were appearing in her story. Two of her friends confronted her. “They came to my house,” she says. “They were saying, ‘What Phil is telling you might not be real.’ They asked whether I had cancer at all.”
Belle believes these friends leaked doubts about her story to the media, triggering her rapid fall from grace. She says she has lost a lot of friends. Several contacted The Weekly, claiming to have been treated badly by Belle. They tell of a loyal band of friends rushing to Belle when she had panic attacks or alleged seizures. The Weekly, they warned, should not be tricked into portraying her too sympathetically and should beware of lies. However, none would be named.
Belle admits to cutting off relationships when things get too difficult. She says she believes her “troubled” childhood may have played a role in recent events. “But I don’t think I am so psychologically damaged that I have manufactured everything that I presently think I know > about my life. I’ve gotten to a point where if I don’t know the answer, I just don’t know it.”
BELLE DOESN’T SEEM to have accepted the demise of The Whole Pantry, yet as we spoke, accountants were winding up the business. She is due to meet Penguin Australia, which stopped supplying her book in the wake of the scandal. After initially appearing unbothered, Apple dropped her app.
There has been a lot of speculation about profits from The Whole Pantry. Bespoke Approach’s Alex Twomey says accounts show she ploughed revenue back into the business, mainly on high-end photography and web design.
Belle will not make any profit, he says, she has returned her rental car and will shortly move out of the rented beachside home she shares with Clive and her son. If there is any money left over, accountants have been instructed to pay it to the charities Belle pledged some profits to.
Looking back, it’s hard to imagine how Belle thought she would unite her growing fame and good health with an impossibly bleak prognosis. Unlike in the past, she had a public presence. She couldn’t simply move interstate and disappear this time.
Belle claims she was preparing to go public when the scandal broke. “I’ve been really upset about it because it now looks like we are on the defence,” she says.
Yet like so much else in this story, it’s impossible to say whether this is true.
One of her posts on social media, almost three years ago, seems startlingly prophetic. “You have serious mental health issues if you conjure up lies, situations, health issues, struggles or add in unreasonable amount of detail to keep things interesting, make it your way of creating interaction or to satisfy and keep up all the other lies you’ve told – grow up, calm down, live simply,” Belle typed. “Shut the f* up and be normal, in other words.”
Perhaps it was, in fact, a terse little message to herself.
BELLE GIBSON TIMELINE
1991: Born in Tasmania.
2006: Attends Wynnum State High School in Brisbane. A former student tells The Weekly that Belle made up cancer claims “to try to stop her boyfriend at the time from breaking up with her”.
2008: Moved to Perth, became involved in the skateboarding culture.
MAY 2009: Claims on a skateboarding forum to have undergone major heart surgery and “died” on the operating table.
2009: Says she has Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine, claims to suffer an adverse reaction after second jab, including headaches, blurred vision and slurred speech. Suffers what she believes to be a stroke at work. GP prescribes anti-depressants.
2009: Introduced by anti-vaccination campaigners to a man she said was called Dr Mark Johns, who claimed to be a neurologist and immunologist from Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre conducting top-secret research on the Gardasil vaccines. The Weekly can find no evidence that Dr Mark Johns ever existed. The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has no record of him being employed at its facilities and there is no doctor by that name registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
2009: Belle says Dr Johns invites her to join his research. He comes to her home, she says, and uses “a machine like an old-fashioned hard-drive with lights and metal sheets that you sat on” for both diagnosis and treatment.
MID-2009: Moves to Melbourne to supposedly be closer to Dr Johns, whom she claims has now diagnosed her with terminal brain cancer and given her four months to live.
October 2009: Tweets “Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. This is more f*ed than the government giving me cancer.” Asked this month what she meant, she replies, “I have no idea.”
2010: Gives birth to son with then boyfriend Nathan Corbett.
2012: Says she suffers miscarriage with new partner Clive Rothwell.
MAY 2013: Makes debut on Instagram, claiming to be healing herself of terminal brain cancer.
AUGUST 2013: Launches The Whole Pantry app, advocating healthy eating. It is voted Apple’s Best Food and Drink App of 2013.
JUNE 2014: Returns from US, where she says she began to feel unwell after meeting Apple and US publishers, and seeks treatment from a recommended healer called Phil, who invoices her $8890 for a string of spurious-sounding products and treatments. Belle says Phil tells her that she now has cancer in the blood, spleen, brain, uterus and liver.
JULY 2014: Announces on Instagram that her cancer had spread. “With frustration and ache in my heart … it hurts me to find space tonight to let you all know with love and strength that I’ve been diagnosed with a third and fourth cancer.”
SEPTEMBER 2014: Apple announces her app will feature on its new watch.
OCTOBER 2014: Releases cookbook The Whole Pantry through Lantern/Penguin.
NOVEMBER 2014: Belle awarded Cosmopolitan magazine’s Fun, Fearless Female Award in the social media category.
DECEMBER 2014: Says she has first doubts about whether she has brain cancer.
MARCH 8, 2015: The Age reports that Belle failed to give away profits from her book, as promised, to various charities.
MARCH 9, 2015: The Australian reports first doubts over Belle’s cancer diagnosis.
MARCH 12, 2015: Information and history about Belle removed from her Instagram and Facebook pages.
MARCH 18, 2015: Apple withdraws her app from its store and Apple Watch showcase.
APRIL 2015: Accountants winding down her business. Belle prepares to move out of her rented home. She receives hate mail and death threats.
A version of this article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. Words by Clair Weaver. Photography by Alana Landsberry.
A full face of makeup in just five minutes – we show you how.
Before kids I used to take my time getting ready for work in the morning. Now that I’m a mum, mornings are hectic. I feel blessed if I make it out without egg on my shirt.
What is non-negotiable is my makeup, so I’ve had to whittle down the time it takes to apply a full face. As long as I have just five minutes to myself, I can be ready to take on the world (at least from the neck up, anyway).
Here’s my simple guide to an effortless, game-ready face in five minutes.
MINUTE ONE & TWO
Foundation: Having smooth skin and a flawless foundation will make you look polished. I use BB cream as it’s easy to apply quickly with my fingers. I always do my eyelids as well to prep them for eye shadow.
Blend: Proper blending is the easiest way to the flawless finish. I rub a sponge around the hairline, corners of my nose, under my chin and around my eyebrows. The idea is to get rid of any obvious lines or build-up of foundation.
Concealer: I absolutely LOVE concealer and use it mostly for dark circles, although it’s great for blemishes too. I apply under my eyes and then pat with my finger to gently blend.
MINUTE THREE
Eye shadow: I have a go-to colour that I adore for every day. It is a nude tone with a touch of shimmer that will match any outfit. It goes over the whole lid and up to the brow, taking literally seconds. Find a colour that suits you and you’ll always look impeccable without hassle.
Mascara: I use mascara with a small, straight brush as it is so much easier to apply. The big fat ones are hard to wield unless you’re a supermodel with crazy-long eyelashes.
MINUTE FOUR
Bronzer: I use a big brush to apply a dusting of bronzer up my neck and around the edges of my face. I use a light hand as I want to a radiant halo rather than heavy, flat colour. My technique will slim down your face and give a beautiful luminous glow. If you use powder over your foundation, do that now instead of bronzer.
MINUTE FIVE
Lipstick: As with my eyes hadow, I have an everyday lipstick that I know works. It is a delicate rose pink, a few shades brighter than my natural lips. I apply, blot with a tissue and add a second layer for staying power.
Blusher: This might sound weird but when I’m in a rush I use my lipstick as blush. As long as you are using a pinkish tone then this will work and gives a pretty, youthful effect. To apply, I do an exaggerated smile and put a dot of lipstick in the middle of the cheek and blend to soften. You can also use crème blush or a powder.
Reports made by TMZ allege that the former NBA great had boarded a plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday en route to New York City, but he never made it to his final destination.
Onlookers told the site he was “pounding down” whisky and beer in the Delta first class lounge before the flight.
Check out the shocking moment in the player below! Post continues…
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Lamar reportedly vomited on himself, in the aisle of the plane and in one of the aircraft’s bathrooms, which lead to his removal from the flight before it had even taken off.
He allegedly then returned minutes later, only to return to the bathroom.
He was then removed for the second and final time, following a reported complaint from a first-class passenger.
TMZ have also revealed a passenger’s shocking set of photos from the incident, which claim to show Lamar’s vomit on the floor of the plane. “When Lamar Odom vomits on the plane,” the caption reads.
Seemingly commenting on the situation, Khloe simply tweeted a sad face emoji.
Many came to the 32-year-old’s support, with one user penning: “You’re doing what you can, unfortunately he makes his own choices. Stay strong.”
But Khloe soon came under fire when a critic slammed her for supposedly “running the streets” with other guys, addressing speculation that she is dating rapper Trey Songz, rather than focusing on her former husband.
Watch Khloe address her ex’s plane incident in the video underneath… Post continues!
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“Stay in your f–king lane, little girl,” she retorted. “You know nothing about anything. You’re a sheep herded by society.”
In February, Khloe admitted that she had no desire to remain married to Lamar despite helping him through his October overdose.
“We’re not back together. We’re not at all. I love him with every fiber of my being…but we were married and I shared that union with him,” she explained on The Talk.
Less than two weeks ago, Lamar was spotted at Disneyland looking happy and healthy.
“I didn’t want for our divorce to happen, but it happened for many reasons and that doesn’t mean I just forget about this person.”
It’s undoubtedly been a tumultuous time for Lamar.
With the divorce proceedings back on, on top of moving out his Calabasas home that Khloe provided to help him recover, there’s no doubt the 36-year-old is under a lot of stress.
Meanwhile, fresh reports claim the reality star was spotted drinking alone at Los Angeles strip venue, 4Play Gentlemen’s Club, before he arrived at the airport on Monday.
Lamar pictured with his beloved family just a few weeks ago.
“When he was first drinking again, some said he was just getting back to normal – clearly this was just a gateway back to his destructive behaviour,” one source told People, who believes that the former basketballer “is an addict and should never have been drinking again.”
After 35 years of pain and suffering, Kerri Sackville has a few choice words for her womb.
Me: Hello?
Uterus: Yeah. Hi.
Me: What on earth are you doing?
Uterus: You haven’t figured it out yet? Seriously? I’ve been doing this once a month for over 30 years and you still don’t get it?
Me: Yeah, but you didn’t warn me this time. I mean, seriously? I’m in the middle of a park! With no supplies! Couldn’t you at least have held off till I got home?
Uterus: Er, excuse me. I did warn you. You’ve been depressed and cranky for three days.
Me: Oh yeah. Shit.
Uterus: How could you have not noticed that? What did you think was going on?
Me: I don’t know. I thought I hated my job, my kids were awful, and I had no friends.
Uterus: But four days ago everything was fine! Could you not see it was just in your mind?
Me: Well, things change. It seemed perfectly plausible. Anyway, it’s not my fault. It’s you. You need a better warning system.
Uterus: What, like a bell?
Me: No, not a bell, for god’s sake.
Uterus: A pain? I can do that, you know.
Me: Yes, I’m very aware you can do that. No. Something innocuous. Maybe a scent? The taste of strawberries? A minor visual disturbance?
Uterus: Scent? Visual disturbance? You don’t have a very good grasp of biology, do you?
Me: Oh shut up.
Uterus: Wow. You’re a bit sensitive today.
Me: Yes, I am. I’ve just started gushing blood in the middle of a park with no warning.
Uterus: I did warn –
Me: OKAY.
Uterus: Anyway, look on the bright side. You’re functioning properly. You are woman! With a capital W! You are Woman! Hooray!
Me: Yes, awesome, thank you. But I’d still be a woman without you, you know.
Uterus: Okay, that’s just nasty.
Me: It’s true. And really, I’ve had my kids. I don’t need you anymore. I’m perfectly content for you to stop functioning anytime. Now would be fine.
Uterus: Right, well, now you’re just being hurtful.
Me: Good. I owe you about 35 years of pain. Suck it up.
Uterus: That’s so mean! I don’t even know who you are anymore!
Me: I’m sick of you! That’s who I am!
Uterus: Okay, that doesn’t even make grammatical sense.
Me: Shut up! I’m sick of you bleeding! I’m sick of you contracting! I’m sick of you sending stupid hormones to make me cranky!
Uterus: Er… that’s the ovaries …
Me: YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
Uterus: You know, you’re a very ungrateful person. I gave you children. I gave you life. You should give thanks to me every single day for the magnificent gifts that I have bestowed on you. Not berate me for the slight inconvenience of a bit of blood.
Me: Okay. I guess so. I’m sorry.
Uterus: Good.
Me: But really … why does it have to be so … messy? And inconvenient? And painful?
Uterus: I can’t believe you’re still complaining. Menstruation is a beautiful process. It is spiritual.
Me: Spiritual how?
Uterus: Because, Sister, it is the Divine Goddess flowing through your Sacred Chakra and out your Yoni, sanctifying your Anima and connecting you to the Heart of the Universe.
Me: Really?
Uterus: Nah! Just kidding. It was that or lay eggs, and that seemed even worse.
Me: I hate you.
Uterus: No you don’t. You’re just cranky cause you forgot to pack tampons.
Me: Whatever. Go away.
Uterus: No can do. But I will try to warn you more next time. Would breast tenderness help?
New research is highlighting the link between artificial sweeteners and weight gain.
Australian researchers at University of Sydney have studied sweeteners and the impact it has on how the brain responds to food intake. This supports previous studies that show people eat more when they consume artificial sweeteners.
The reason behind it has now come to light.
The study, published in journal Cell Metabolism, looked at two sets of fruit flies over five days. The flies given sweeteners consumed one third more calories and one third more food.
Lead researcher of the project, Greg Neely, said that this indicated that the brain sensed sweetness and energy intake, and in response it regulated appetite.
Associate Professor Neely said: “Our conclusions from this study were that the sweetness and energy content of food are integrated in reward centres in the animals’ brain.
“When they’re out of balance, the brain responds and corrects it by promoting more or less food intake, in this case more food intake.”
The study used sucralose, AKA Splenda, but researchers say that the findings apply to most artificial sweeteners.
A similar study used mice and showed that regular consumption of the sweetener increased the sweet tooth of the rodents.
It also found that sweeteners promote hyperactivity, insomnia and bad sleep.
Professor Neely said that these results may not necessarily mean the same for humans, but they can be reversible.
“We found it was reversible, when animals stop taking artificial sweeteners for three days their responses go back to normal,” he said.
The makers of Splenda said they had conducted many random, placebo-controlled studies that show how sweeteners could be used as an effective weight management tool, and for diabetes management.
So if you take artificial sweeteners, best use them in moderation.
A Melbourne woman has been sexually assaulted at her own front door as she looked for her keys to let herself in.
A Melbourne woman has been sexually assaulted at her own front door as she looked for her keys to let herself in.
The 22-year-old woman was attacked at around 7.30pm on June 23 as she prepared to enter her home in Wolseley Street, Coburg.
The suspect, believed to be about 20 years old, is thought to have followed the victim home, grabbing her as she stood on her doorstop.
He raped her before fleeing on foot. Victoria Police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating the attacker, who is described as being 170cm tall with a medium build. He was wearing a blue jacket with white sleeves.
If you have any information, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
It was a family affair for the legendary rapper as she brought along a very special date to the VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens awards in New York City on Monday night - her daughter!
The 40-year-old beamed with pride as she walked the red carpet with her darling daughter, Royal Reign, two.
Her mini-me bub rocked a sparkling gold jacket and a bandanna while Lil’ Kim turned heads in a figure-hugging black dress and an intricate pearl necklace.
Later in the evening the star, real name Kimberly Denise Jones, was honoured with an accolade for her efforts in the hip hop and fashion industries and she wasted no time in giving a shout out to Royal Reign, whose father is rapper Mr. Papers, in her acceptance speech.
“My beautiful baby, Royal Reign, is in the building! Hi,” the Lighters Up hitmaker said on stage.
Lil’ Kim gave Royal Reign a special shout-out during her acceptance speech.
Meanwhile Lil’ Kim has previously said becoming a mother has changed her for the best.
“I think that motherhood has made me a better person, a better artist. I guess motherhood has made me not give a f—. You just don’t care,” the Grammy award-winner told Revolt TV in an interview.
“Everything that I do is for her. Everything now! Everything I do, I just think about her and it’s an amazing feeling. I never thought that one person could consume my mind and my brain all the time. When I’m making my music now, I have more to rap about,” she added.
Watch Lil’ Kim and Royal Reign work the red carpet below. Post continues after the video!
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The rapper turned heads in a plunging black dress.
Adrian Bayley has had his prison sentence slashed.
The man who raped and murdered Melbourne woman Jill Meagher has had his prison sentence reduced by three years.
Adrian Bayley’s non-parole period was cut this morning by Victoria’s Court of Appeal, meaning he will now be eligible for release in 2055 when he is 83 years old.
Last year, Bayley was convicted of raping three other women, increasing his non-parole period to 43 years.
He appealed against two of the three convictions and today, part of his appeal was upheld, with the court quashing one of the rape convictions.
The three other women were attacked in 2000 and early 2012, before Bayley raped and murdered Meagher in September 2012.
I looked at my husband with tears starting to well in my eyes. I knew.
“I never thought I’d have children. That is to say, I never thought I wouldn’t have children either.
I just was never one of those clucky people. All my friends were having babies in their early 30’s. I liked holding their babies, visiting their babies, buying them toys and playing with them but that was it.
Biologically I think it happened when I got married, or shortly afterwards.
I was nearing my mid-30’s and suddenly decided I wanted to start a family and then bizarrely, could think of nothing else.
I became a bit obsessed about it, particularly the longer it took to conceive.
We tried and tried until finally we fell pregnant after seven months. It felt like FOREVER, but in medical terms, you don’t get any help with ‘infertility’ until you’ve been trying for a year. And for anyone who’s been trying for a baby, that IS forever.
Once I finally fell pregnant I was ecstatic. I told a few close friends, I bought “What to expect when you’re expecting”, downloaded a pregnancy app and started looking at babies, pregnant women and anything ‘baby’ completely differently.
I saw pregnant women in the street and I’d smile, like I had now become a member of the club.
I didn’t tell any family, but couldn’t wait to. I couldn’t wait to tell EVERYONE. I was having a baby! Me!
At eight weeks when I went for my first obstetrician appointment, she said I looked well and asked if I had any morning sickness. Nope – felt great!
“Hmmm,” she said, and asked if I had any other symptoms.
Nope – I felt amazing!
I didn’t think anything was strange when she didn’t react – I just thought I was one of the lucky ones. My husband was with me and we smiled together, like it was all so exciting to finally be here at the obstetrician’s office.
She put the ultrasound to my stomach. No sound. She moved it around. Still nothing. She cleaned it with her shirt, then put it back on my stomach, saying something about it being “funny” sometimes. Still nothing.
I looked at my husband with tears starting to well in my eyes. I knew. Right then, I knew.
There was no heartbeat, she told us.
She showed me the image on the screen and said it wasn’t moving. I looked at my husband again. He tried to smile at me, but his eyes were filled with tears.
How could this happen? Why? What had I done?!
She explained that the foetus hadn’t developed beyond seven weeks and that I had miscarried. No baby.
No baby.
It was 10 o’clock in the morning on a Friday and everything seemed to stop. I was devastated. It was a very heartbreaking, weird, surreal experience and I felt like the only woman in the world who didn’t have a baby.
My obstetrician told us all the statistics about miscarriages in Australia. She told us how many women had them – 1 in 3 pregnancies apparently. But that didn’t matter to me. No-one I knew had a miscarriage… only ME.
For the first time in my life I thought, “What if I CAN’T have children?!”
It was scary. I felt terrified. This was completely new territory for me.
I was an organised, fit, educated, healthy woman that pretty much had had a great life up until that point.
I wanted to go to uni – I got into uni.
I wanted to be a journalist – I became a journalist.
I wanted to travel and work overseas – I did.
I wanted to buy a house in the inner suburbs – I did.
I did fun runs, I hardly drank, and I didn’t smoke, but all of a sudden I couldn’t have a baby. It turned my whole world upside down.
It occurred to me that I’d always taken it for granted that I could have children. But, what if I couldn’t?
For a time, I thought I might not ever be a mum. And that was terrifying.
After having a curettage a few days later – a horrible but necessary procedure that’s physically and emotionally painful – I was devastated for a few weeks.
I cried a lot and I felt sorry for myself. I took some time off work and just felt really, really sad.
I called the few friends who I’d told about my pregnancy, and was surprised to learn that two of them had also miscarried. Why hadn’t they told me? Why was this the first I was hearing about it?
It made my experience a little more bearable to be able to talk about it with someone who understood. After that I decided that I was not going to hide our miscarriage from anyone. I wasn’t going to keep it to myself. It’s personal and painful and sad but it’s not uncommon. In fact, it’s much, much more common that I realised.
After a few months off from trying to conceive, a sunny beach holiday and a new job I felt more optimistic again, and after five long months I fell pregnant again. I was so excited but also scared.
After I did a pee-on-a-stick pregnant test four times (I had to be sure) we didn’t tell anyone that we were pregnant again.
It was so different this time around. I wanted to be excited but I just wouldn’t let myself be – not until that first scan.
We had an early eight week scan at my obstetrician’s office which was the longest day of my life. I woke at 5am and couldn’t sit still until my 2pm appointment.
We went through the paces again. It was 11 months after I was last there. The same room, same doctor, and same bed, but this time – thank goodness – the news was different.
There was a heartbeat!
It was loud and clear, and there was our moving baby on the ultrasound screen. Amazing! A baby. A life inside of me.
It was the happiest, most amazing moment of my life and I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
Two days after that scan I began to get morning sickness and felt nauseous every afternoon until I went to bed. But I didn’t care. I knew that this was a good sign – that our baby was developing well.
After another scan at 12 weeks that showed everything was going great, we felt confident to share the news with our friends and family. We honestly felt like the first couple to ever be pregnant. We were SO happy!
Nothing could wipe the smile off my face for months.
I was a perfect pregnancy patient. I didn’t touch alcohol. Stayed well clear of sushi, spa baths, hot showers, deli meats and pate, ensured I got plenty of Vitamin D, only did low impact exercise and ate as organically as I could. I wasn’t going to do anything to risk my pregnancy.
Two weeks before my 38th birthday I gave birth to my first baby. A beautiful daughter named, Ava Jane. She was an absolute miracle and we felt completely blessed.
I’ve since had two more daughters, and another miscarriage.
I never complained during any of my pregnancies. I relished every moment of being pregnant with all three of my girls.
I had very quick, drug-free births with each of them and embraced every cramp, stabbing pain and contraction – as much as it hurt!
I feel in some way that I am more grateful than many people I know who didn’t have any fertility issues. They are lucky – they’ve never had to experience the pain or devastation of losing a baby before they’ve even met them.
It’s horrendous to go through – particularly that first miscarriage, because I didn’t have any children and wasn’t sure I could. But for me, I know that it has made me a more appreciative, thankful and grateful woman and mother.
I have three healthy, happy and beautiful girls and I know how lucky and blessed I am. I try never to take that for granted. I am a much happier person being a mum, and can’t imagine life any other way. Every bit of the journey was, and is, absolutely worth it.
Now I just have to work on my husband for another…
Written by Adrienne @ Stylish Bump
Stylish Bump gives you some inspiration for your baby’s room, what to wear when pregnant, post baby and beyond and you find some helpful hints and tips along the way.
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